PECOTA thinks the Yanks are (slightly) the class of the AL; Law sees a lot of pitching on the farm; New York signs Carlos Carrasco; Volpe ascending to leadership
SNY | Alex Smith: That’s it. Stop the count. Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projects the Yankees to emerge with 89.7 wins, most in the Junior Circuit and fourth-most in baseball (seriously, check out the Dodgers… yikes). They estimated 94 regular season victories for the Yanks last season, which was pretty darn accurate. Just give the Bombers the pennant now and disregard that the Rangers and Orioles are essentially right on their heels at 89.3 and 89.2, respectively. Oh, and hope for the best against the Dodgers, I guess.
The Athletic | Keith Law ($): Prospect season continues unabated. Law is not a huge fan of the Yanks’ farm right now, considering he ranked it 21st of 30 clubs when he slotted everyone in. But he seems to like the pitching, as 13 of the top 20 prospects Law identifies are pitching, headlined by 2024 first-rounder Ben Hess, who Law thinks can easily be a mid-rotation arm and sees perhaps hitting Double-A sometime this summer.
MLB | Bryan Hoch: That grizzled veteran Anthony Volpe is the old man of the Yankee infield. With Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres gone, Volpe is the longest-tenured confirmed starter on the Yankee diamond. Jazz Chisholm Jr. figures to move from the hot corner back to the keystone, and while New York has high hopes for DJ LeMahieu, this looks like Volpe’s infield since there are no guarantees about the veteran. Volpe had a couple of hot runs at the plate last season, including in October. If he can find some consistency with the stick to go with his glove and his baserunning…
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips ($): No one gets through a major league season with only five (or six) starting pitchers. And with pitcher and catchers on the verge of reporting, the Yanks added some depth. As Jeremy wrote here yesterday, veteran hurler Carlos Carrasco is headed to the Bronx. Last season, the 38-year-old threw 103.2 innings (albeit very subpar ones) for Cleveland. But as recently as 2022, Carrasco was league average for the Mets. Look. If the Yanks are relying heavily on Carrasco, something has gone catastrophically wrong. But starting pitching depth is rarely a bad thing.